It’s Wedding Wednesday and I’m talking all about the ao dai aka the traditional Vietnamese dress! Following our Vietnamese tea ceremony and luncheon, my fabulous wedding party and I headed to the Washington State Capitol to take bridal photos in our wedding ao dais. I grew up in Olympia (the capital of Washington) and rarely went to the state capitol building. I didn’t realize it was such an incredible place for photos until I started blogging and I’m so happy we got to take these beautiful wedding photos in my hometown!
All photos by Natalie Hills Photography
Ao Dai
The traditional Vietnamese long dress is called an ao dai, pronounced like “ow y-eye”. It’s rooted in the Vietnamese culture, and can be worn on an every day basis in Vietnam as well on special occasions. My mom used to wear a white, silk ao dai every day as her school uniform in Vietnam, and brides often wear bold and intricate red ones on their wedding day (red symbolizes luck)!
An ao dai is essentially a long dress top made of flowy fabric like silk. For women, it’s very fitted from the neck to the waist, and then it has slits on each side from waist down. Underneath, you wear high-waisted, wide-legged pants. The resulting look is very feminine, elegant, and ultra flattering!
Our Vietnamese Outfits
Because ao dais are meant to fit like a glove, they are typically tailored to your exact body size and shape. So when my parents went to Vietnam earlier this year, they got both mine and Jeff’s ao dais custom made. My cousin in Vietnam sent me a few wedding ao dai online shops and I was in love with the selection from Lahava. This is my wedding ao dai and this is Jeff’s Vietnamese outfit.
Although brides typically wear a red wedding ao dai, I loved how elegant the white looked and I wanted to stick to wearing white for all of my wedding dresses. My wedding ao dai had a lot of the classic elements like a tall neckline, but it was modernized with a gorgeous long train and sparkling beading embellishments.
Traditional grooms usually wear a bold blue ao dai with gold print. But we selected a modernized ao dai for Jeff that was made of beautiful, high quality fabric in solid white and gold. I absolutely love the details of the buttons and embroidery. Doesn’t he look like a Vietnamese prince!
Our Wedding Party
Last but not least, our wedding party’s ao dais! Our bridesmaids wore pink ao dais that were custom made for them in Vietnam. Most of my bridesmaids aren’t Vietnamese so this was their first time wearing something like this, and they totally rocked it!
For the groomsmen, well that is a long story lol. For men, ao dais don’t need to fit them perfectly so you can purchase them from the markets in Vietnam. My mom took the groomsmen’s measurements before her trip to Vietnam and then used them as reference to buy ao dais over there. However, when she brought them back, the arms were super tight for everyone lol. Luckily, one of the groomsmen had a work trip in Vietnam so he went to the famous Ben Thanh market, tried on ao dais himself, and bought a brand new set for everyone. He totally saved the day lol!
That wraps up posts for my Vietnamese tea ceremony! I’m so glad we had the tea ceremony and wore these gorgeous wedding ao dais to honor my culture and make my mom so happy. Up next – my American wedding photos! We just got them back and I’m super excited to relive that day with you all!
congrats, Tina!! you guys look gorgeous!
http://heyprettything.com
The most beautiful bride ever! Congrats!
Kisses, Paola.
Expressyourself
Congrats, pretty pics ♥
You look gorgeous Tina! Thanks for sharing your culture.
Jennifer
Effortlessly Sophisticated
OMG, you are the most beautiful bride ever, many congratulations my sweetheart. May God bless you both all happiness and success of life <3
Have a nice day.
Kisses <3
http://www.rakhshanda-chamberofbeauty.com/
Tina, you look absolutely stunning and so does everyone in the bridal party! So happy for you and what a lovely place to take pictures!
Mich x
http://michjoseph.com
These wedding portraits are so cute! Wonderful memories.
X Merel
http://www.andathousandwords.com
Oh my gosh, I’m dying over the embellished neckline of your dress – such a stunning design; you look beautiful Tina!!
aglassofice.com x
What gorgeous wedding photos! Your dress is exquisite and love the color of the bridesmaids dresses.
https://www.kathrineeldridge.com
A dream, so cool!
❤ Mary María Style ❤
Wow, these pictures are amazing and the dress is stunning!! Congrants!! 🙂
https://julesonthemoon.com/
Oh what a beautiful dress!!!! I love it and I love that it is not strapless, I use to work in the bridal industry and I am so over strapless which I am not a fan of at all even in non bridal garments. And your photos too, just brilliant.
Allie of
http://www.allienyc.com
Congratulations, Tina! The dress you wore is such a delicate and stunning piece. I totally love it! The photos are unbelievably beautiful.
xo, Andreea | https://www.budistyle.com/en/
Congratulations Tina!!!! You look absolutely amazing, love your dress!!! Beautiful photos!!x
Yiota
PinkDaisyLoves
Congratulations, what a gorgeous wedding photos.
http://www.infinitelyposh.com
Dream pics!
Lovely couple!
Kisses, Paola.
Expressyourself
Tina, these photos are beautiful!! Congratulations again! I love that you shared what the Vietnamese traditions are. I always love hearing about different customs and cultures!
http://www.rdsobsessions.com
These photos are too stunning, babe friend! AMAZING! You both look so happy!
-Ashley
Le Stylo Rouge
I loove the mix of traditional vietnamese and modern western mix in your ao dai look! Didn’t even realise it was an ao dai at first, just saw the subtle collar <3
The Quirky Environmentalist
Absolutely beautiful babe!
xx- Nina
http://www.stylingwithnina.com/
Beautiful photos and I just love how they relived the day. Everyone looked so very happy and amazing in their ao dai!
Maureen | http://www.littlemisscasual.com
Oh wow, congratulations! You look so happy and radiant. Your Vietnamese gown looks nice and perfectly fits you.
http://www.busyandfab.com
Happy new week pretty♥
What a gorgeous wedding! You look absolutely stunning dear!
Jessica | notjessfashion.com
Gorgeous!! I’m going to Saigon in Nov and would love if you could share some of the shops that you looked at! Thank you!
Hi Jessica! My mom went to Vietnam and did the shopping for me (she would FaceTime me). I believe she just went to Cho Ben Thanh for the wedding party’s ao dai, and mine was from Lahava.